Welcome to the Vikings Postgame Report. The Minnesota Vikings dropped their final preseason game in 2025 to the Titans 23-13 down in Nashville. Both Max Brosmer and Brett Rypien played quarterback in the game, with Brosmer leading the team in passing yards, going 15-of-23 for 161 yards and the lone passing touchdown of the game to Tight End Bryson Nesbit. Wide Receiver Dontae Fleming led the team with 2 receptions for 53 yards. Running back Xazavian Valladay led the team on the ground with 8 carries for 39 yards. Kicker Will Reichard went 2-for-4 on field goals with his longest kick converting from 58 yards and he also converted his lone extra point attempt in the game. Defensively, Austin Keys, Jonathan Harris, and Levi Drake Rodriguez all notched a sack in the game, while linebacker Chaz Chambliss led the team with 9 tackles on the night. Paul Allen and Pete Bercich recap the game, including: the preseason play of rookie quarterback Max Brosmer, the discussion surrounding the depth at the wide receiver position, the pending roster decisions in the next 2 weeks and the team shifting their sights to the start of the regular season on Monday Night Football in Chicago. Plus, Kevin O'Connell's postgame press conference and more are all included in this week's edition of the Vikings Postgame Report.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:18):
Hey, it's the postgame report. Closing the twenty twenty five preseason,
Titans beat the Vikings by ten. For Pete Bursach on
Paul Allen, preseason has come to a conclusion and regarding
the football game that we just witnessed, the college free
agent from the University of Minnesota, Max Brosmer threw a
touchdown to Bryce and Nesbitt. That was pretty much the
(00:38):
highlight of the game. And Brosmer finishes the preseason having
really really done about as well as you can.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
Right.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
Absolutely, a fourth string quarterback, a guy who's not getting
a lot of reps in practice to come out and
do and be as efficient. And it's kind of it's
not always in the stats, Paul, and you and I
have seen a lot of quarter our day. It's just
how does the whole process flow. And when Brosmer in there,
it has that flow, it has that rhythm. The decisions
(01:09):
he's making, zero blitz throw a deep perfect football should
have been caught, right, I'm so impressed with what he's
been able to do. Now, I'm not saying that he
should be the number two and he or he should
be a starter. What I'm saying is that this young
man possesses something that he deserves to be around, right,
you need to he deserves the investment of another season.
(01:32):
And you know, I think of everyone this preseason, he's
the guy I think that stood out to me.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
And now it's it's the thought process which may already
have come to a conclusion. But like for Brosmer, defensive
tackle Elijah Williams, maybe offensive lineman Joe Huber, all undrafted guys,
that's where the mental gyrations begin with all right, if
we get sneaky and try to put him on the
practice squad. Ben's so tight end from a couple of
(02:01):
years ago from Baylor, you know, they tried to put
him on the practice squad. Green Bay claimed him. He's
been acting pretty much every game since. Yeah, that's the
last thing you want to happen, right.
Speaker 3 (02:10):
Absolutely, because you're the one that found him, you're the
one that signed him, you're the one that developed them.
And then somebody else you know, poaches him so to speak,
and he's continued. He's everybody. He's everything that you thought
that he could be. Now the Vike he's had the
opportunity to do that to other rosters as well. So
that's where that's where over the next couple of days
there's going to be a lot of work with Quasi
(02:31):
alluded to it when we sat down and talk spoke
with him about the pro personnel's got to look at
every team, every roster, you know, how stacked are they
at certain positions, And it's a it's a thousand guys
that are going to hit the market here pretty soon. Yeah,
and you want to get the pick of the litter,
but you know also don't want to bring in someone
that's going to upset what you've been trying to build.
And it's it's an art, as much as they want
(02:53):
to quantify it, it's an art, not really not not
just something you can plug into a computer and figure out.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
And I'm glad you brought up the general manager, Quasio
Dovo Mensa, who did join the broadcast, the radio broadcast
for the entire third quarter. And when I when I
framed it up like this, Jordan Addison's gonna miss the
first three games of the year. Jalen Naylor and ty
Felton are both nick nupped. Now ron Dale Moore was
lost for the season in the Texans game. Are you
inquiring about wide receiver depth and if so, how's it going?
(03:22):
And and you know, he obviously was vague, but I
mean he pretty much to be right, but he did
pretty much confirm is yeah, you know that. That's what
we do, is we identify situations that may need depth
or help. So and the reason I bring it up is,
you know, whether it's Adam Theelen's name or Michael Pittman
from the Indianapolis Colts. I mean, there have been so
many names bouncing around the last few days. When when
(03:45):
when you get people like Adam Schefter from ESPN tweeting
that the Vikings are inquiring about the services of Adam
Thielen with the Panthers, While it's it's ninety nine point whatever,
right because Schefter hits on all that stuff, you know,
But then it's a Detroit Lakes go crazy name, so
of course the fan base goes crazy. So I'm not
(04:05):
asking you to break down the chances of Adam thielin
coming here. But nevertheless, do you feel they need some
wide receiver depth? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (04:12):
They do.
Speaker 3 (04:12):
I think that, and you need and it's the proven depth,
especially early, and I think all of this conversation would
be different if we didn't have an inexperienced quarterback right right,
he's not a rookie per se, but this is still
his first game that I think changes a lot. And
outside of that position, Paul, the guys that play tonight,
(04:32):
we might see somebody returning punts. We might you know,
the number three tight end maybe, but not right, We're
gonna be looking at a whole different team in about
two and a half weeks. However, that question I think
is the most important because if you go out and
bring in a veteran wide receiver, you're doing that with purpose,
so that whoever that is is going to be starting
(04:53):
and playing probably opposite of Justin Jefferson, and that's a
huge role. That's a huge that's a huge d all
going into a you know, going into a season opener.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
Let's get the thoughts from Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell,
who spoke after the ten point loss to the Tennessee Titans.
Speaker 4 (05:10):
All Right, I did want to start tonight having had
a chance to, uh, you know, speak with those of
you who made the trip and many of our folks
back at home, but didn't want to start out just
talking about Harrison Phillips for a quick second. Obviously a
tough move to make, just considering just how impactful he's
(05:31):
been to the Minnesota Vikings and organization on and off
the field. First free agent we signed when Quacy and
I got here, and he was the first one we
signed for a reason, the type of the type of
man he is, type of teammate, type of leader that
was recognized ultimately, you know, as him being the voted
the Man of the Year and then also voted a captain.
(05:53):
So moves like that are not made without a lot
of thought and a lot of you knowing sure that
I got a chance to spend a lot of good
time with Harrison, and I also had a chance to
talk to, you know, a GM mood in New York
about the type of player that they were getting and
I and I know he'll have the same impact there
in a new kind of new regime there as they
(06:15):
build their culture up, Harrison Phillips will be great for it.
So I just wanted to start out tonight and say
that just quick injury updates.
Speaker 2 (06:23):
You know, Tyler Batty.
Speaker 4 (06:24):
Pretty early there, you know, had a right knee that
will evaluate via the MRI. Zay Scott had a right
ankle pretty early two guys that you know have had
really good camps, and then a third that you know,
Elijah Williams would be right there with those guys, had
a right hamstring in the second half there, Brett Riplan
(06:44):
was evaluated for a concussion, but he returned. That was
the play there where I believe the interception there where
you know, he got hit in the head. It was
enough to get evaluated for concussion, but not enough to
you know, maybe draw a penalty on the play.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
So with that, I'll open it up to you guys,
just to go back.
Speaker 5 (07:05):
To Harrison for a minute. Is there anyone in that
room that you see kind of being able to step
up and filled the quite large like locker room presence here.
Speaker 2 (07:13):
Yeah. I think the thing that that that you have
to understand about in the room, You know.
Speaker 4 (07:19):
Acquiring veteran presences like like Ja Jonathan Allen and Grave
have really been you know, they they've really been immediate
impact players on and off the field, guys that have
sustained it and done it at a high level for
a really long time. So that's you know that that
that doesn't go into the hard decision like that as
(07:39):
far as the leadership goes. But you do know, we've
got some ascending players on our roster offensively and defensively
that you know, are ready to assume.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
That void that will be. We've got to we've got to.
Speaker 4 (07:51):
Make sure we're on top of that as a team
because of his impact.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
For sure.
Speaker 5 (07:55):
Did you want to see out of Max tonight giving
him the start and a little bit more.
Speaker 4 (07:59):
Time, Yeah, I think it was, you know, let him
go through the process of pre game and going through
the call sheet with Wes and Josh and just going
through it as if he was, you know, getting a
start and going to play the whole game. We wanted
to make sure we gave Rip a good amount of
time too. I thought both those guys did some really
good things. Max once again showed some of the things
(08:21):
he's shown throughout camp.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
Good decision maker, made.
Speaker 4 (08:24):
Some plays, you know, buying a little time with his legs,
converting some third downs you know, via some you know,
tight completions, and I just thought, you know, both those
guys did some good things.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
We didn't do enough to win the game.
Speaker 4 (08:36):
We had, you know, a couple of costly penalties, one
on a punt return that Jug took back or Miles
Price took back you know, a good chunk there that
would have gave us great field position out of penalty
on that play, and then the fourth down to Fleming,
I thought was, you know versus kind of a look,
you get some practice quite a bit from our defense,
the poise to know where to go with that thing
(08:57):
and throw a ball like that. We you know, and
flememates great catches tonight. We just didn't come down with
that one.
Speaker 5 (09:02):
Max surprised you with what he's been able to do
here finally camp and in this game, which.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
Together, yeah, surprised would be.
Speaker 4 (09:10):
You know, I had high expectations for him, you know,
one of those things where we went into the draft
with him and you know, being a guy that we
really really liked throughout the process. He was local, We
had a chance to see him throw twice you know,
at the at the pro day there, you know, at
the U, and and then just hosted him, you know,
on a visit and just getting to know him felt
like a great fit. Felt like, you know, the mental
(09:31):
he's high capacity from a from a thinking standpoint, but
yet he's one of those guys that can go out
and apply the thinking really fast as he progresses through
our system and and through our pass game. So his
ownership of you know, really not getting a lot of
reps early, didn't get a lot of work in the
spring to be able to hit the ground run in
the way he did with his opportunities, and training camp
(09:54):
gave him more opportunities, you know, culminating with tonight getting
the getting the chance to start the last preseason game.
Speaker 5 (10:00):
Is there any consideration throughout the week of playing Sam.
I saw he was suited up so he could have gone.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
In, But yeah, he was.
Speaker 4 (10:07):
He was really up, you know, kind of as a
you know, for emergency purposes if we had injuries at
the position. But it was really more about you know,
getting to see Max and Brett and and get them
the maximum amount of reps to to be able to
you know, make a decision on you know, who's gonna
be on our football team and and ultimately, you know,
I feel good about where Sam's at.
Speaker 2 (10:29):
He's you know, like JJ and and Max.
Speaker 4 (10:31):
You know, he's really when you look at it first time,
getting full time reps in the system, I thought he's
had some real growth.
Speaker 2 (10:37):
He had a good week of practice.
Speaker 4 (10:38):
Took a lot of reps in our kind of simulated
scrimmage the other day. So he's done some really good things.
We're just gonna continue.
Speaker 2 (10:45):
To build and grow and and I.
Speaker 4 (10:47):
Like the I do like the the way those guys
have come together in that room. And Josh and Jordan
are doing a really good job with those guys. But
a lot of work to still do. We're gonna work
through obviously what the football team is gonna look like
as a whole. But you know, it was it was
good to see those two guys do some of the
things they did tonight.
Speaker 5 (11:04):
What do you what do you like about the game
setting for some of these young guys who didn't get
fairly any practice stress past week.
Speaker 2 (11:11):
Yeah, you find out what they learned.
Speaker 4 (11:13):
You find out who can learn maybe without the maximum
amount of reps, because you go into training camp and
you try to communicate to these guys that the reps
are coming, so maximize your you know, walk through reps,
Maximize you know, the meeting time when you're going through
the practice safe and you're watching somebody else get coached
up at the positions you've got to be able to
(11:33):
apply that that is that is such as life for
a lot of young players in this league to be
ready for their moment when called upon. And you know,
we've had a lot of guys, a lot of guys
that came in under different circumstances. Whether it's a rooky
mini camp tryout guy that that catches the eye of
as a position coach, and or it's you know, a
(11:53):
guy like Max or Miles Price. You just go down
the line, you know, especially you know the defensive side,
there's some there's some guys that really came on and
started to get some some real work with the first
and second unit. So I told the team, you know,
I think this this group came together in a way
that you could feel it. You can feel it in
the locker room.
Speaker 2 (12:13):
Just now. We've got a lot of hard decisions to make.
Speaker 4 (12:16):
At least, you know, by far the worst time of
the year for me to have the amount of conversations
you're going to have.
Speaker 2 (12:21):
And you know, considering a.
Speaker 4 (12:22):
Lot of these guys have probably done enough to feel
like they've they've made our team, but the numbers don't
allow us to keep as many as we'd like. You know,
we're excited about the potential practice squad we're.
Speaker 2 (12:33):
Going to have and with the elevation rules.
Speaker 4 (12:35):
You really kind of feel like you can have a
roster well beyond the fifty three, but a lot to
be determined here over the next few days.
Speaker 2 (12:43):
Tough conversations for sure.
Speaker 1 (12:45):
Generally speaking, how difficult is this time of year we're
going to have, you know, to to kind of sort
everything out and get ready to feel confident in.
Speaker 2 (12:52):
Your things, that kind of thing.
Speaker 4 (12:53):
Yeah, I mean the communication and the and the and
the process between our personnel group and our coaching staff
and really solidifying the vision of our football team is.
Speaker 2 (13:04):
The fun part.
Speaker 4 (13:04):
Unfortunately, what comes from that are you know, thirty you know,
thirty seven conversations where you're you're telling people that you know,
no matter what they did, in many cases maybe enough
to really make the conversation difficult.
Speaker 2 (13:18):
You're giving them news that I know too well.
Speaker 4 (13:21):
You know, it happened a lot to me in my career,
you know, so I always feel like that conversation is
my job. It's my obligation to make sure they not
only you know, get the well deserved time from hearing
from me and how much I appreciate them, but also,
you know, some of the best conversations I had in
(13:42):
my football journey, were during some of those tough moments
where a coach took the time to tell me how
how I can improve things I did well, things I
need to really.
Speaker 2 (13:51):
Work on and focus on.
Speaker 4 (13:52):
And then the type of players we have in that
locker room. There's going to be many of these guys
that are going to be as sending NFL players, whether
they're in our bill or another one. That's just the
product of a of a of a good offseason, a
good process in the college free agent process, as well
as the you know, all the other aspects.
Speaker 2 (14:10):
Of acquiring players.
Speaker 5 (14:13):
Has or Scott's shown you enough that he's pushing through
that running back three spot at all.
Speaker 2 (14:17):
Yeah, he's had a great camp.
Speaker 4 (14:19):
You know, we'll we'll we've got to work through the numbers,
you know, position wise, what we're gonna what we're going
to be doing, keeping uh, you know, and really try
to envision what the team is going to look like.
And and it's not always set and stolen those numbers.
But he's definitely, in my opinion, he's you know, absolutely
done enough to warrant real conversation and and I think
ty Chandler has had a really good camp too. Maybe
(14:42):
not you know to the level in the games that
that Zay did. You know, from a standpoint of impact
in the past game, I thought he had.
Speaker 2 (14:49):
He was great in the screen game.
Speaker 4 (14:50):
He had a great run tonight, you know, which ultimately
ended up with him getting a little nicked up there.
But absolutely I think Y's you know, done a He's
had a really good camp and and quite honestly, he
was a.
Speaker 2 (15:02):
Guy we thought, you know, we.
Speaker 4 (15:05):
Kind of had him on the practice squad and you're
developing a guy with that kind of size and that
kind of speed, You're really hoping to see the type
of camp he had.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
And he answered the bell for sure.
Speaker 5 (15:16):
And then Tye felt him. We saw him leave the
other day during practice and he didn't play as he did.
Speaker 4 (15:20):
Yeah, he was close to being able to go, but
you know, he was pretty sore coming out of that.
I don't think, you know, we have no real long
term concerns. It was more just a matter of you know,
him getting a lot of reps the other day with
you know, it was a big time ones versus one
day And when you're looking at it, there's a lot
of these guys that played in the game tonight that
were out there just because of our current receiver situation
(15:42):
with Jets and Speedy and and then obviously you know,
even Jay went down for a little bit. But he's
he's doing great. He's doing fine. But yeah, you know,
I think Ty, he he had some moments the other
day before ultimately getting a little banged up that showed
some real growth and he you know, real real competitive
reps against a Byron Murphy or as Ai Rogers. So
(16:04):
you know, I think he's he's improved throughout camp, so
physically talented, with the speed and the athleticism to help
our team.
Speaker 2 (16:13):
So I'm excited about Ty.
Speaker 1 (16:14):
That's the reigning coach of the Year Kevin O'Connell, who
undoubtedly is super excited for the regular season opener. When
when I sat down with him to tape the pregame interview,
I asked him with a training camp practices, like how
much do you construct those practices to start getting ready
for the Bears? And he said, kind of paraphrasing, that
they've worked on that, you know, for for several weeks,
(16:36):
if not months, kind of low key, but just of
late they've really started working on things to get ready
for the Bears. Ben Johnson's their new coach, Dennis Allen,
their new defensive coordinator. And JJ McCarthy is from Illinois.
He's from what's it called Lagrange, Yeah, yeah, yeah, right
right by Chicago, right miles away. Well, this is unbelievable.
What's coming up September eighth on kf A N and
(16:58):
the h and the vast expanding audio network.
Speaker 3 (17:01):
You're right, and it's like that's where the NFL is
unbelievable in how they schedule everything, right, you get, you
get JJ McCarthy's to be out there in front of family,
in front of friends. The first game NFL game he
ever attended was a Chicago Bears game right against the Vikings,
by the way, and the Vikings once.
Speaker 2 (17:19):
That's good.
Speaker 3 (17:21):
So there's so much there. You said with Ben Johnson,
he's won technically won five in a row against the Vikings,
And what's he going to do offensively? And can you
bring it? Can he develop Caleb Williams? Can the Bears
have a four thousand yard passer once every There's so
many levels to this game. But you mentioned the preparation
part of it. And despite all this is going on
(17:42):
in the preseason, the main job of these coaches is
to get the starters ready for opening day. So if
they're taking away a little bit of practice to emphasize
what they're going to do against the Bears, it totally
makes sense. And you know, coach O'Connell alluded to it
when we spoke to him earlier this this preseason that
(18:02):
there's like a whole nother camp that happens now. The
next twelve days of practice right are big. They're gonna
be physical, they're gonna be you know, they're gonna be
getting these starters ready to play and ready to go
an entire game, and you know you got to hit
the ground running these days.
Speaker 1 (18:18):
Good job, buddy, and I'll see you in your hometown
for Monday Night football. Okay, it sounds great.
Speaker 2 (18:22):
I can't wait.
Speaker 1 (18:22):
That's Pete Versa, John Paul Allen. Thank you for listening
to the postgame report. The preseason has come to a conclusion.
The next time you will hear the postgame report will
be following what we hope is a Vikings opening game
victory from Soldier Field. Thank you very much for listening
and visiting Vikings dot com.
Hey, it's the postgame report. Closing the twenty twenty five preseason,
Titans beat the Vikings by ten. For Pete Bursach on
Paul Allen, preseason has come to a conclusion and regarding
the football game that we just witnessed, the college free
agent from the University of Minnesota, Max Brosmer threw a
touchdown to Bryce and Nesbitt. That was pretty much the
(00:38):
highlight of the game. And Brosmer finishes the preseason having
really really done about as well as you can.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
Right.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
Absolutely, a fourth string quarterback, a guy who's not getting
a lot of reps in practice to come out and
do and be as efficient. And it's kind of it's
not always in the stats, Paul, and you and I
have seen a lot of quarter our day. It's just
how does the whole process flow. And when Brosmer in there,
it has that flow, it has that rhythm. The decisions
(01:09):
he's making, zero blitz throw a deep perfect football should
have been caught, right, I'm so impressed with what he's
been able to do. Now, I'm not saying that he
should be the number two and he or he should
be a starter. What I'm saying is that this young
man possesses something that he deserves to be around, right,
you need to he deserves the investment of another season.
(01:32):
And you know, I think of everyone this preseason, he's
the guy I think that stood out to me.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
And now it's it's the thought process which may already
have come to a conclusion. But like for Brosmer, defensive
tackle Elijah Williams, maybe offensive lineman Joe Huber, all undrafted guys,
that's where the mental gyrations begin with all right, if
we get sneaky and try to put him on the
practice squad. Ben's so tight end from a couple of
(02:01):
years ago from Baylor, you know, they tried to put
him on the practice squad. Green Bay claimed him. He's
been acting pretty much every game since. Yeah, that's the
last thing you want to happen, right.
Speaker 3 (02:10):
Absolutely, because you're the one that found him, you're the
one that signed him, you're the one that developed them.
And then somebody else you know, poaches him so to speak,
and he's continued. He's everybody. He's everything that you thought
that he could be. Now the Vike he's had the
opportunity to do that to other rosters as well. So
that's where that's where over the next couple of days
there's going to be a lot of work with Quasi
(02:31):
alluded to it when we sat down and talk spoke
with him about the pro personnel's got to look at
every team, every roster, you know, how stacked are they
at certain positions, And it's a it's a thousand guys
that are going to hit the market here pretty soon. Yeah,
and you want to get the pick of the litter,
but you know also don't want to bring in someone
that's going to upset what you've been trying to build.
And it's it's an art, as much as they want
(02:53):
to quantify it, it's an art, not really not not
just something you can plug into a computer and figure out.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
And I'm glad you brought up the general manager, Quasio
Dovo Mensa, who did join the broadcast, the radio broadcast
for the entire third quarter. And when I when I
framed it up like this, Jordan Addison's gonna miss the
first three games of the year. Jalen Naylor and ty
Felton are both nick nupped. Now ron Dale Moore was
lost for the season in the Texans game. Are you
inquiring about wide receiver depth and if so, how's it going?
(03:22):
And and you know, he obviously was vague, but I
mean he pretty much to be right, but he did
pretty much confirm is yeah, you know that. That's what
we do, is we identify situations that may need depth
or help. So and the reason I bring it up is,
you know, whether it's Adam Theelen's name or Michael Pittman
from the Indianapolis Colts. I mean, there have been so
many names bouncing around the last few days. When when
(03:45):
when you get people like Adam Schefter from ESPN tweeting
that the Vikings are inquiring about the services of Adam
Thielen with the Panthers, While it's it's ninety nine point whatever,
right because Schefter hits on all that stuff, you know,
But then it's a Detroit Lakes go crazy name, so
of course the fan base goes crazy. So I'm not
(04:05):
asking you to break down the chances of Adam thielin
coming here. But nevertheless, do you feel they need some
wide receiver depth? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (04:12):
They do.
Speaker 3 (04:12):
I think that, and you need and it's the proven depth,
especially early, and I think all of this conversation would
be different if we didn't have an inexperienced quarterback right right,
he's not a rookie per se, but this is still
his first game that I think changes a lot. And
outside of that position, Paul, the guys that play tonight,
(04:32):
we might see somebody returning punts. We might you know,
the number three tight end maybe, but not right, We're
gonna be looking at a whole different team in about
two and a half weeks. However, that question I think
is the most important because if you go out and
bring in a veteran wide receiver, you're doing that with purpose,
so that whoever that is is going to be starting
(04:53):
and playing probably opposite of Justin Jefferson, and that's a
huge role. That's a huge that's a huge d all
going into a you know, going into a season opener.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
Let's get the thoughts from Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell,
who spoke after the ten point loss to the Tennessee Titans.
Speaker 4 (05:10):
All Right, I did want to start tonight having had
a chance to, uh, you know, speak with those of
you who made the trip and many of our folks
back at home, but didn't want to start out just
talking about Harrison Phillips for a quick second. Obviously a
tough move to make, just considering just how impactful he's
(05:31):
been to the Minnesota Vikings and organization on and off
the field. First free agent we signed when Quacy and
I got here, and he was the first one we
signed for a reason, the type of the type of
man he is, type of teammate, type of leader that
was recognized ultimately, you know, as him being the voted
the Man of the Year and then also voted a captain.
(05:53):
So moves like that are not made without a lot
of thought and a lot of you knowing sure that
I got a chance to spend a lot of good
time with Harrison, and I also had a chance to
talk to, you know, a GM mood in New York
about the type of player that they were getting and
I and I know he'll have the same impact there
in a new kind of new regime there as they
(06:15):
build their culture up, Harrison Phillips will be great for it.
So I just wanted to start out tonight and say
that just quick injury updates.
Speaker 2 (06:23):
You know, Tyler Batty.
Speaker 4 (06:24):
Pretty early there, you know, had a right knee that
will evaluate via the MRI. Zay Scott had a right
ankle pretty early two guys that you know have had
really good camps, and then a third that you know,
Elijah Williams would be right there with those guys, had
a right hamstring in the second half there, Brett Riplan
(06:44):
was evaluated for a concussion, but he returned. That was
the play there where I believe the interception there where
you know, he got hit in the head. It was
enough to get evaluated for concussion, but not enough to
you know, maybe draw a penalty on the play.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
So with that, I'll open it up to you guys,
just to go back.
Speaker 5 (07:05):
To Harrison for a minute. Is there anyone in that
room that you see kind of being able to step
up and filled the quite large like locker room presence here.
Speaker 2 (07:13):
Yeah. I think the thing that that that you have
to understand about in the room, You know.
Speaker 4 (07:19):
Acquiring veteran presences like like Ja Jonathan Allen and Grave
have really been you know, they they've really been immediate
impact players on and off the field, guys that have
sustained it and done it at a high level for
a really long time. So that's you know that that
that doesn't go into the hard decision like that as
(07:39):
far as the leadership goes. But you do know, we've
got some ascending players on our roster offensively and defensively
that you know, are ready to assume.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
That void that will be. We've got to we've got to.
Speaker 4 (07:51):
Make sure we're on top of that as a team
because of his impact.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
For sure.
Speaker 5 (07:55):
Did you want to see out of Max tonight giving
him the start and a little bit more.
Speaker 4 (07:59):
Time, Yeah, I think it was, you know, let him
go through the process of pre game and going through
the call sheet with Wes and Josh and just going
through it as if he was, you know, getting a
start and going to play the whole game. We wanted
to make sure we gave Rip a good amount of
time too. I thought both those guys did some really
good things. Max once again showed some of the things
(08:21):
he's shown throughout camp.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
Good decision maker, made.
Speaker 4 (08:24):
Some plays, you know, buying a little time with his legs,
converting some third downs you know, via some you know,
tight completions, and I just thought, you know, both those
guys did some good things.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
We didn't do enough to win the game.
Speaker 4 (08:36):
We had, you know, a couple of costly penalties, one
on a punt return that Jug took back or Miles
Price took back you know, a good chunk there that
would have gave us great field position out of penalty
on that play, and then the fourth down to Fleming,
I thought was, you know versus kind of a look,
you get some practice quite a bit from our defense,
the poise to know where to go with that thing
(08:57):
and throw a ball like that. We you know, and
flememates great catches tonight. We just didn't come down with
that one.
Speaker 5 (09:02):
Max surprised you with what he's been able to do
here finally camp and in this game, which.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
Together, yeah, surprised would be.
Speaker 4 (09:10):
You know, I had high expectations for him, you know,
one of those things where we went into the draft
with him and you know, being a guy that we
really really liked throughout the process. He was local, We
had a chance to see him throw twice you know,
at the at the pro day there, you know, at
the U, and and then just hosted him, you know,
on a visit and just getting to know him felt
like a great fit. Felt like, you know, the mental
(09:31):
he's high capacity from a from a thinking standpoint, but
yet he's one of those guys that can go out
and apply the thinking really fast as he progresses through
our system and and through our pass game. So his
ownership of you know, really not getting a lot of
reps early, didn't get a lot of work in the
spring to be able to hit the ground run in
the way he did with his opportunities, and training camp
(09:54):
gave him more opportunities, you know, culminating with tonight getting
the getting the chance to start the last preseason game.
Speaker 5 (10:00):
Is there any consideration throughout the week of playing Sam.
I saw he was suited up so he could have gone.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
In, But yeah, he was.
Speaker 4 (10:07):
He was really up, you know, kind of as a
you know, for emergency purposes if we had injuries at
the position. But it was really more about you know,
getting to see Max and Brett and and get them
the maximum amount of reps to to be able to
you know, make a decision on you know, who's gonna
be on our football team and and ultimately, you know,
I feel good about where Sam's at.
Speaker 2 (10:29):
He's you know, like JJ and and Max.
Speaker 4 (10:31):
You know, he's really when you look at it first time,
getting full time reps in the system, I thought he's
had some real growth.
Speaker 2 (10:37):
He had a good week of practice.
Speaker 4 (10:38):
Took a lot of reps in our kind of simulated
scrimmage the other day. So he's done some really good things.
We're just gonna continue.
Speaker 2 (10:45):
To build and grow and and I.
Speaker 4 (10:47):
Like the I do like the the way those guys
have come together in that room. And Josh and Jordan
are doing a really good job with those guys. But
a lot of work to still do. We're gonna work
through obviously what the football team is gonna look like
as a whole. But you know, it was it was
good to see those two guys do some of the
things they did tonight.
Speaker 5 (11:04):
What do you what do you like about the game
setting for some of these young guys who didn't get
fairly any practice stress past week.
Speaker 2 (11:11):
Yeah, you find out what they learned.
Speaker 4 (11:13):
You find out who can learn maybe without the maximum
amount of reps, because you go into training camp and
you try to communicate to these guys that the reps
are coming, so maximize your you know, walk through reps,
Maximize you know, the meeting time when you're going through
the practice safe and you're watching somebody else get coached
up at the positions you've got to be able to
(11:33):
apply that that is that is such as life for
a lot of young players in this league to be
ready for their moment when called upon. And you know,
we've had a lot of guys, a lot of guys
that came in under different circumstances. Whether it's a rooky
mini camp tryout guy that that catches the eye of
as a position coach, and or it's you know, a
(11:53):
guy like Max or Miles Price. You just go down
the line, you know, especially you know the defensive side,
there's some there's some guys that really came on and
started to get some some real work with the first
and second unit. So I told the team, you know,
I think this this group came together in a way
that you could feel it. You can feel it in
the locker room.
Speaker 2 (12:13):
Just now. We've got a lot of hard decisions to make.
Speaker 4 (12:16):
At least, you know, by far the worst time of
the year for me to have the amount of conversations
you're going to have.
Speaker 2 (12:21):
And you know, considering a.
Speaker 4 (12:22):
Lot of these guys have probably done enough to feel
like they've they've made our team, but the numbers don't
allow us to keep as many as we'd like. You know,
we're excited about the potential practice squad we're.
Speaker 2 (12:33):
Going to have and with the elevation rules.
Speaker 4 (12:35):
You really kind of feel like you can have a
roster well beyond the fifty three, but a lot to
be determined here over the next few days.
Speaker 2 (12:43):
Tough conversations for sure.
Speaker 1 (12:45):
Generally speaking, how difficult is this time of year we're
going to have, you know, to to kind of sort
everything out and get ready to feel confident in.
Speaker 2 (12:52):
Your things, that kind of thing.
Speaker 4 (12:53):
Yeah, I mean the communication and the and the and
the process between our personnel group and our coaching staff
and really solidifying the vision of our football team is.
Speaker 2 (13:04):
The fun part.
Speaker 4 (13:04):
Unfortunately, what comes from that are you know, thirty you know,
thirty seven conversations where you're you're telling people that you know,
no matter what they did, in many cases maybe enough
to really make the conversation difficult.
Speaker 2 (13:18):
You're giving them news that I know too well.
Speaker 4 (13:21):
You know, it happened a lot to me in my career,
you know, so I always feel like that conversation is
my job. It's my obligation to make sure they not
only you know, get the well deserved time from hearing
from me and how much I appreciate them, but also,
you know, some of the best conversations I had in
(13:42):
my football journey, were during some of those tough moments
where a coach took the time to tell me how
how I can improve things I did well, things I
need to really.
Speaker 2 (13:51):
Work on and focus on.
Speaker 4 (13:52):
And then the type of players we have in that
locker room. There's going to be many of these guys
that are going to be as sending NFL players, whether
they're in our bill or another one. That's just the
product of a of a of a good offseason, a
good process in the college free agent process, as well
as the you know, all the other aspects.
Speaker 2 (14:10):
Of acquiring players.
Speaker 5 (14:13):
Has or Scott's shown you enough that he's pushing through
that running back three spot at all.
Speaker 2 (14:17):
Yeah, he's had a great camp.
Speaker 4 (14:19):
You know, we'll we'll we've got to work through the numbers,
you know, position wise, what we're gonna what we're going
to be doing, keeping uh, you know, and really try
to envision what the team is going to look like.
And and it's not always set and stolen those numbers.
But he's definitely, in my opinion, he's you know, absolutely
done enough to warrant real conversation and and I think
ty Chandler has had a really good camp too. Maybe
(14:42):
not you know to the level in the games that
that Zay did. You know, from a standpoint of impact
in the past game, I thought he had.
Speaker 2 (14:49):
He was great in the screen game.
Speaker 4 (14:50):
He had a great run tonight, you know, which ultimately
ended up with him getting a little nicked up there.
But absolutely I think Y's you know, done a He's
had a really good camp and and quite honestly, he
was a.
Speaker 2 (15:02):
Guy we thought, you know, we.
Speaker 4 (15:05):
Kind of had him on the practice squad and you're
developing a guy with that kind of size and that
kind of speed, You're really hoping to see the type
of camp he had.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
And he answered the bell for sure.
Speaker 5 (15:16):
And then Tye felt him. We saw him leave the
other day during practice and he didn't play as he did.
Speaker 4 (15:20):
Yeah, he was close to being able to go, but
you know, he was pretty sore coming out of that.
I don't think, you know, we have no real long
term concerns. It was more just a matter of you know,
him getting a lot of reps the other day with
you know, it was a big time ones versus one
day And when you're looking at it, there's a lot
of these guys that played in the game tonight that
were out there just because of our current receiver situation
(15:42):
with Jets and Speedy and and then obviously you know,
even Jay went down for a little bit. But he's
he's doing great. He's doing fine. But yeah, you know,
I think Ty, he he had some moments the other
day before ultimately getting a little banged up that showed
some real growth and he you know, real real competitive
reps against a Byron Murphy or as Ai Rogers. So
(16:04):
you know, I think he's he's improved throughout camp, so
physically talented, with the speed and the athleticism to help
our team.
Speaker 2 (16:13):
So I'm excited about Ty.
Speaker 1 (16:14):
That's the reigning coach of the Year Kevin O'Connell, who
undoubtedly is super excited for the regular season opener. When
when I sat down with him to tape the pregame interview,
I asked him with a training camp practices, like how
much do you construct those practices to start getting ready
for the Bears? And he said, kind of paraphrasing, that
they've worked on that, you know, for for several weeks,
(16:36):
if not months, kind of low key, but just of
late they've really started working on things to get ready
for the Bears. Ben Johnson's their new coach, Dennis Allen,
their new defensive coordinator. And JJ McCarthy is from Illinois.
He's from what's it called Lagrange, Yeah, yeah, yeah, right
right by Chicago, right miles away. Well, this is unbelievable.
What's coming up September eighth on kf A N and
(16:58):
the h and the vast expanding audio network.
Speaker 3 (17:01):
You're right, and it's like that's where the NFL is
unbelievable in how they schedule everything, right, you get, you
get JJ McCarthy's to be out there in front of family,
in front of friends. The first game NFL game he
ever attended was a Chicago Bears game right against the Vikings,
by the way, and the Vikings once.
Speaker 2 (17:19):
That's good.
Speaker 3 (17:21):
So there's so much there. You said with Ben Johnson,
he's won technically won five in a row against the Vikings,
And what's he going to do offensively? And can you
bring it? Can he develop Caleb Williams? Can the Bears
have a four thousand yard passer once every There's so
many levels to this game. But you mentioned the preparation
part of it. And despite all this is going on
(17:42):
in the preseason, the main job of these coaches is
to get the starters ready for opening day. So if
they're taking away a little bit of practice to emphasize
what they're going to do against the Bears, it totally
makes sense. And you know, coach O'Connell alluded to it
when we spoke to him earlier this this preseason that
(18:02):
there's like a whole nother camp that happens now. The
next twelve days of practice right are big. They're gonna
be physical, they're gonna be you know, they're gonna be
getting these starters ready to play and ready to go
an entire game, and you know you got to hit
the ground running these days.
Speaker 1 (18:18):
Good job, buddy, and I'll see you in your hometown
for Monday Night football. Okay, it sounds great.
Speaker 2 (18:22):
I can't wait.
Speaker 1 (18:22):
That's Pete Versa, John Paul Allen. Thank you for listening
to the postgame report. The preseason has come to a conclusion.
The next time you will hear the postgame report will
be following what we hope is a Vikings opening game
victory from Soldier Field. Thank you very much for listening
and visiting Vikings dot com.
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